Subject: Singer bares nearly all for political career

A Polish pop singer is courting controversy by attempting to branch out in politics with help from a sizzling election poster.

Katarzyna Szczolek is standing for office in her local authority in Warsaw, in elections later this month.

But Miss Szczolek, who sings under the stage name Sara May, has been criticised for the way she is portraying herself.

One election poster shows her stretched out on a beach wearing just a skimpy bikini with the slogan: "Beautiful, independent, and competent."

In another campaign poster, she is seen cuddling a cute puppy alongside the slogan: "Honest, sincere, direct and uncompromising."

"I live right here with the voters. I walk the same streets, go shopping in the same stores and have the same problems as everyone else," she said.

But the singer, who has resorted to snogging female friends on stage to stay in the focus of media attention and bolster her sagging pop career, has come in for ridicule in the constituency.

"Who's she trying to kid?" asked local man Tomasz Muchy. "I can just imagine how she'll go down when turning up at a council meeting, assuming anyone knows who she is."